In the Bleak Midwinter
by sorianna
Summary: Winter comes to the Labyrinth, and with it, two visitors.
1. Prologue

_In the bleak midwinter_

_Frosty wind made moan,_

_Earth stood hard as iron,_

_Water like a stone;_

_Snow had fallen,_

_Snow on snow,_

_Snow on snow,_

_In the bleak midwinter,_

_Long ago._

_-Christmas Carol, lyrics by Christina Rossetti_

Jareth, Goblin King of The Underground, woke to find that winter had come to his Labyrinth. There was an unaccustomed chill in the air, and a sharp smell that had never been scented before in the Labyrinth.

Jareth stood at the edge of his balcony, looking out over the patchwork sprawl of his kingdom and saw a sight that even he in his very long life had never seen. A blanket of glittering snow covered everything, the only movement aside from the skirling snow the slumberous shifting of the Labyrinth. And everything was silent.

His kingdom was never silent. Populated by goblins and babies-turned-goblins and chickens as it was he could barely get a moment to himself, let alone a quiet one. Something was wrong. The goblin king turned back into his room, cloak flaring dramatically.

There was someone new in his Labyrinth.


	2. Chapter 1

There were two visitors, as it turned out. "Remind me again why we're here?" The tall man's voice was sharp when he spoke, irritated.

"Because," And her voice was warm, patient, and she turned to look at the man, smiling. "We need any help we can get at this point."

Snorting derisively the man turned away, heading down the short, sandy incline that lead to the seemingly door-less wall. "So you keep saying. I still say that we could find her on our own."

The woman, her red hair twisting in the intermittent wind, followed him down, holding her skirts up so she didn't trip on them. The man waited for her at the bottom of the incline, taking her hand when she reached him, a smile twitching his lips. "And your reason for dressing me up?" Gesturing to himself and his clothes.

She smiled at him, white teeth flashing in the starlight, bright against brown skin. "I need a reason now?" She teased. "I dress nice all the time but _you_ need a reason?" She pretended to pout and the man rolled his eyes, running a hand through his silver hair. "You _like_ to dress up, dearheart. That's the difference."

"And I like _you _to dress up. I don't see the difference at all."

He threw up his hands, turning away from her and sighing dramatically. "Sometimes I don't see why I put up with you."

"Could it be because you love me?"

"Love nothing. I'm just afraid of going back to being a soulless monster. You could be a teaspoon and I'd act the same." He found it suddenly difficult to keep from laughing when he saw the look on her face: a curious mix of frustration, disgust, and repressed laughter of her own.

"Anyways. You're dressed nice because visiting Kings of powerful kingdoms to ask for help is one of _the_ reasons to dress up. Plus we want to give an impression of 'powerful personages in a lamentable position who should be helped' , not 'ohmigod he's going to KILL ME!'. It's a very important distinction."

"Am I normally _that_ intimidating?"

"Dearheart, you scare _me_ sometimes."

"Yeah, but you get freaked out seeing- OW!"

"Jerk. Now, come on, we're not expected so I think we'll need to find our own way through his Labyrinth."

"Um, I'm pretty sure we could just-"

"We're guests, asking for help, we are _not_ going to break our way through!"

"*Sigh*"


	3. Chapter 2

Jareth lounged on the windowsill , his casual pose belying his tension. The room the window belonged to, a hallway leading to his throne room, was empty. So was his throne room; an event near unheard of in the annals of goblin history, or what passed for it. The palace goblins were all in the basements, deep underground. In the city they were all huddled in their homes, children hidden in some nook. In his Labyrinth everyone was still, those assigned to watch over this door or that passage hidden as best they could, those who normally roamed about huddled in groups, muttering.

His subjects were as ignorant as he about the source of the snow, but Jareth had the advantage of having seen snow before due to his trips to the world outside the Underground. For the goblins it was a totally foreign experience. Not only unknown but unknowable, sourceless and wicked. But something had brought snow here. Someone. As to who…

Jareth stared at the crystal ball he had balanced on his fingertips. He'd sent his magic out to find the source of winter, but the answer had only brought up more questions. Who was this couple, the woman with her crimson hair and elegant gown, the tall silver-haired man dressed in grey as though to blend into stone and snow alike? And what did they want?

Visitors rarely came to his Labyrinth and Jareth liked it that way. He rarely traveled to the outside world unless he was collecting a child.

That had changed ever since Sarah had beaten the Labyrinth and rescued her baby brother. He'd felt unaccustomedly restless and had wandered the places he usually only watched through his crystals. Now it seemed the former was changing as well.

The only question now was if he wanted to keep them out or not.


	4. Chapter 3

"Ok, _when_ are we going to find the damn door?" The woman's formerly calm voice was tight with frustration. The tall man was sitting back on his heels, watching his companion, who was standing in front of the tall wall, palms pressed against the rough-hewn stones.

"I think…" She drifted off, looking towards the man, then away, glancing around, "I think someone's supposed to let us in. Or maybe the wall itself? The area has the feeling of a 'use the right words and it'll work out.' type of thing." She mused, still looking around. For some sort of guardian or guide, he supposed.

"So what are the right words?" He prompted, but the woman only glared at him.

"How am I supposed to know? I've never visited, any gate-guardian isn't here now, and I'm bad at riddles." She pouted. The man stood then, dusting snow off his grey kidskin pants.

"Well, lucky for us that I'm good at them, then." He said, walking up beside the woman, putting his hands on her shoulders and lightly pulling her away from the wall. She let him, and took the opportunity to lean back against him, her head resting on his shoulder, smiling up at him. He smiled back without looking, keeping his gaze on the wall the whole time, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Now. If there were a guardian, what would the question be…"  
"Excuse me, do you know where the door is?" She suggested, interrupting. He chuckled, tugging on a lock of her blood-bright hair.

"Always so polite, _me amrilla_. No, I think it would more likely be…" Raising his voice so that it echoed against the snow-draped wall. "Where is the door to the Labyrinth?"

Nothing happened.

"You were wrong." She sang, teasing.

"So were you, love. Would you like to try again?"

"Show us the way into the Labyrinth?"

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. But no, I think it should be a question." He said. She pretended to glare at him and stuck out her tongue.

"Well, _you_ try then! Jerk."

"I think I will. Bet I'll win, too."

"Yes, but bet what?" She teased, her tone turning suggestive. He sighed.

"What is it with you and wagers?"

"I just like to lose, is all."

He sighed again, shaking his head. "Aren't we here to try to find Tanthesa?" The woman stiffened then, pulling away from him, still facing away.

"I _know_ that. But if I dwell on it too much…" She drifted off, her voice was thick with tears.

He sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course. I know that, but I forget sometimes. I'm sorry, _amrilla_." She turned around then, putting a hand on his where it rested on her shoulder, keeping it where it was, and leaned against him, wrapping one arm around his waist.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just try to get in." She looked up at him, her face clear of tears, emotions under control. "Your turn."

He nodded. "How do we get into the Labyrinth?"

There was a creaking groan, and a door to their left that hadn't been there before was suddenly opening ponderously.


	5. Chapter 4

So they'd gotten into the Labyrinth. Jareth wasn't really surprised. They couldn't be just simple mortals or they'd never have _found_ his Labyrinth. It wasn't much of a stretch to believe they'd be able to enter.

But would they be able to make it through. Should he let them? Or should he go out to meet them?

For now, Jareth mused, it might simply be better to watch them. See how far they made it without his influencing the Labyrinth one way or the other.

Well… not much, at least.


	6. Chapter 5

The door opened onto a long corridor, stretching as far as they could see both ways. Spindly little trees grew out of the wall, coated in snow, glittering in the pale sunlight.

"So." He said, turning to her, grinning. "Which way do we go?"

She shrugged, turning to look both ways, noticing the same obelisk-shaped towers lining both ways. "I don't' know, _'mrilla_. Your guess is as good as mine."

"Well then. Right it is." And they started walking, hand in hand, eyes on their feet so they didn't slip on a patch of ice or dead leaves that lay under their snow. Or one of the occasional logs that littered the passage.

"You _always_ choose right."

"And _you_ always choose left."

"So what does that say about us?" He asked.

"I don't know. According to some human mystic left is the direction of summoning and right that of banishing." She tapped the side of her jaw thoughtfully, watching him out of the corner of her eyes to see his reaction.

"Human?"

"Yup. The Underground is most closely connected to Earth and the humans' realm."

"Where do you pick this stuff up?"

"Dunno. Guess I'm just smart like that." She said it casually, her tone carefully off-handed.

She stumbled as he elbowed her in the ribs, giving her a baleful glare. "I was the one figured the words that got us in here, you know."

"I do, and I'm properly grateful," She couldn't keep the smirk off her face. "And yet I-"

He cut her off, arm thrust in front of her, a clear, if silent, gesture for her to stop. She obliged, suddenly alert and looking around.

After a second he lowered the arm, relaxing and turning to the left.

"I've found an exit from this straightaway." She looked where he was looking, but saw only a blank wall.

"Where? I don't see anything."

"Here." Nodding his head at the blank stone wall in front of them, now that they'd both turned to face it. "See?" And he stuck his left arm forward, into, and through! Where the wall was… or wasn't, as the case seemed to be. "It's an optical illusion. A very well-done one, too, if you and your amazing eyesight didn't see it."

"So how'd you see it? Your eyesight's not better than min, is it?"

"He shook his head. "Nope. I heard it. Our footsteps were echoing wrong for it to be a solid wall."

"Ha! Well, aren't I lucky I keep you around?" And it's nice to see there's some use in that 'used to be a soulless monster' bit.

"Oh, is that the reason?" He teased, squeezing her head. "So. You wanna try the first door?"

"Hmm…" She stood there, thoughtful, staring at what still looked like a blank stretch of wall. "Yeah, I think…"

"???" He watched her, obviously wanting her to continue.

"No, wait. Just…" She gestured, a sort of 'stay here' movement with her hands. "…wait, will you?" Before he got a chance to answer she turned and sprinted off down the passage, continuing the way they'd been going. Sighing dramatically he leaned against a spare bit of wall, corssing his arms and watching as the red-haired woman raced off, needless of the fancy gown she wore.

She stopped abruptly, turned, made it effortlessly, elegantly, into a twirl, and stopped facing him, arms spread wide. "It's a spiral!" Her shout carried easily, her voice always did when she was happy, as if even the air caught her infectious joy.

Sighing again he pushed off the wall, walking towards her. "What's a spiral, dearheart?"

"This path! It leads straight to the castle in the middle!"

"You and your spirals." Pretending to be exasperated, just to annoy her. "So are you sure?"

She nodded enthusiastically, grabbing his arm and pulling him along. "Of _course_ I'm sure! Now c'mon! Even this way we've got a ways to go.


	7. Chapter 6

They were wrong, of course, these strangers. The path may _seem_ to lead straight to the castle, true, but it this was the Labrynth. Still, they were doing better than most. Both finding the turnoffs without help from the Labyrinth's unusually quiet denizens, and figuring out that the straight way was the "right" path.

Jareth was truly curious now. Who were they, and why were they there? Although, perhaps the best question was _what_ were they… Not human. They'd nearly said as much.

And at the speed they were going, they'd be here far too soon. He'd best find something suitable to wear.


End file.
